


The bond between us

by Yunael



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akeshu/Shuake Secret Santa Exchange, Amnesia, Angst, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Persona 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21954721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yunael/pseuds/Yunael
Summary: When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t remember anything.My name, age, career, situation… Nothing. There was nothing left regarding myself inside of my brain, as if it had been formatted. I couldn’t even remember how I ended here, inside this empty coffeeshop lightened by the rising Sun, his light filtered by the opaque glass against the entrance door. I probably stayed a few minutes without moving, wondering what I was supposed to do or if I was supposed to be here at all.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27
Collections: Shuake SS Gift Exchange 2019





	The bond between us

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas!
> 
> This is my Secret Santa Gift for @renkechi on Twitter!  
> Hope you like it! :D

When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t remember anything.

My name, age, career, situation… Nothing. There was nothing left regarding myself inside of my brain, as if it had been formatted. I couldn’t even remember how I ended here, inside this empty coffeeshop lightened by the rising Sun, his light filtered by the opaque glass against the entrance door. I probably stayed a few minutes without moving, wondering what I was supposed to do or if I was supposed to be here at all.

Something was telling me that, yes, I _did_ belong here. And that I had to find someone. I had no idea who exactly, but I knew that I would recognize them once I would put my eyes on them. Hoping to remember something, anything, I took a look around. This place was looking familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on its name nor its location. It was a bit small, old, but pretty nonetheless. The delicious fragrance of coffee beans was tickling my nose, making it twitch a bit. If it was open, I would probably have ordered a cup.

A staircase in the back of the shop finally caught my eye. I…had to go upstairs. I felt I should. That’s why I did so, slowly and hesitantly climbing the stairs. What I found up there was… An attic? But it visibly had been arranged as a room. A bit cluttered but nice. There was a desk, a sofa, some shelters, a television simply put on a table, some decoration and a bed right under the window. And someone was sleeping there. Or so did I suppose since their body was buried under a blanket, from head to toes, a black cat sleeping against them. I could only hear their agitated breathing as well as some hoarse sounds escaping them from time to time. Were they having a nightmare?

I approached them and decided to sit at the edge of the bed, waiting for that person to wake up. I had the conviction that it was the right thing to do, but couldn’t explain why. Maybe they would be able to help me, to answer my questions.

Some time passed. It felt like eternity to me. Then, suddenly, the body emerged from the blanket almost jumping, also waking the cat up in the process, exclaiming in a terrified voice;

“Akechi!”

His jolting breathing was making his shoulders violently bump. It seemed to me that the frizzy-haired man right in front of me was about to expel his lungs. Not very appetized with such a vision, I shook my head from left to right before coming to his side, worried. Something wasn’t right. That face… That face was as familiar as this place. And yet, I couldn’t put a name on that man either. Who was he? I decided to put that interrogation aside and focus on how he was feeling.

“Are you alright?”

“A nightmare. It was just a nightmare.” He sighed.

Putting a hand against his sweating forehead, he slowly tried to control his respiration’s rhythm as his cat was meowing at him. Apart from his fear, I could also sense something else… Was it…sadness? No, it was more than that. Despair? Had his nightmare been so horrible for him to wear such an expression on his face? I didn’t know what I could do to reassure him considering the fact that he wasn’t paying any attention to me. I didn’t want to upset him, to make him feel even worse. So, I just stayed here, without moving a muscle.

He lifted his blanket and put his hand inside the pocket of his pajamas, visibly searching for something, before pulling it out of his clothing. A chess piece. The King. Why was he sleeping with something like that on him? I was about to ask when the young man lied down again, only half-covered this time, holding the piece tightly against him, weeping a bit.

“Stupid Akechi…” I could hear between two sobbing hiccups.

Once again, I opened my mouth but couldn’t say anything as the boy got out of bed, leaving the King on his pillow. His cat observed it for a bit before following him and I felt like I had to do so too as he began his morning routine without showing an ounce of enthusiasm towards that new day. He even went out without taking a breakfast despite what the owner of the coffeeshop – that seemed to be open now – and I said to him. Acting as a shadow, I continued to follow him, according to what my instincts were telling me.

The entire day went on just like that. I didn’t make any sound, didn’t do anything to stand out. I just stayed there, beside him, following him as he was walking around the town with, apparently, his friends. The fact that no one seemed to notice me was pretty odd, though. It was as if I wasn’t there at all. Also, everyone was looking excessively sad. I had that impression that the reason of their sadness was known by the others, judging by their looks, their little smiles… Apart from the frizzy-haired boy who was trying to stay as emotionless as possible.

As the night came, after a day spent with his friends, he went home at that coffeeshop, directly going upstairs to collapse on his sofa. Taking his head in his hands, he began to weep again, probably to evacuate everything he had retained while in public. I sat down next to him and tried to put a comforting hand against his shoulder.

What happened then made my blood run cold.

I didn’t _touch_ him. I passed _through_ him.

It terrified me. I jumped up, looking at my own hands. What was that?! I was…slightly translucid. I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t understand and it was making me panic.

“R-Ren (I learnt his name throughout the day), I think something’s wrong with me.”

As always, he didn’t answer, didn’t react at all.

I took a look at the rest of my body only to see that it was in the same condition. Pale. Transparent. How didn’t I notice it before?

… The restroom downstairs. There was a mirror in the restroom downstairs. I hurried there, promising Ren that I would be back soon, and stopped in front of my reflection that was faintly showing my body. I was seeing it for the first time. Well, for the first time since I had lost my memories. Why was I vaporous? Why couldn’t I remember anything? It was so frustrating, not knowing anything about myself!

But that appearance, was it the reason why nobody could notice me? Was I literally _invisible_?

I went back to the attic after going around and around inside of the restroom, not able to find any answer, any sort of hint. Ren still was on the sofa, this morning’s chess piece against him. The television was on, displaying some news channel where a journalist was speaking. It was something about a national mourn. Was it the reason why everybody was looking so down?

I sat once again next to the other boy, grabbing a lock of my brown hair. I could touch it. Feel it. See it. Why was I the only one who was able to do so? I glanced at Ren as he was staring at the screen, a desperate expression on his face.

“– With the loss of the well-known Detective Prince, who knows what’s going to happen. Will the Phantom Thieves take over? Will they be the one to take care of the criminals by changing their hearts?”

“Don’t talk as if someone could ever replace him…” Ren muttered with a croaky voice.

I was beginning to understand. That attitude. The despair. That “Detective Prince” should have been someone the frizzy-haired one really cared about. Was the chess piece something from him?

But what about me? Did I have something to do with all of it?

It didn’t take too long for me to understand that as well.

When they displayed the face of the “Detective Prince”, it all became crystal-clear.

Why I was here. Why I was feeling as if I shouldn’t stay away from Ren.

Because that face, the one on the screen that made the other boy burst into tears…

That smiling face, a bit childish despite his grown-up features…

That face framed by long brown hair…

… It was mine.


End file.
